Vietminh
forces fought the French and defeated the French in a decisive battle
at Dien Bien Phu.

The
Vietminh used mostly World War 2 era Japanese weapons and captured
French weapons. China sent weapons and equipment to Vietminh forces
also.

The
1954 Vietminh victory at Dien Bien Phu causes French forces to
withdraw from so called French Indo-China,

North
Vietnam and South Vietnam divided along the 17th Parallel
in 1954.

Vietcong
forces begin guerrilla activities in rural areas of South Vietnam in
1957. The U.S. already had military advisers in South Vietnam, and
increased the number of advisers from 650 to 900 in 1961.

02
August 1964 staged Gulf of Tonkin incident giving the U.S. the excuse
to openly send combat troops to Vietnam. The U.S.S. Maddox, a U.S.
destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin, was supposedly fired upon by two
North Vietnamese patrol boats.

The
Ho Chi Minh trail was actually a series of clandestine roads and
trails

By
1964 there were 270,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Vietnam.

1968
Tet Offensive

“Blooming
Lotus” tactic

By
1969 there were 550,000 U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam.

Ho
Chi Minh, “Uncle Ho”, died on 03 September 1969.

In
March of 1975 North Vietnamese forces cross the border into South
Vietnam and sweep away South Vietnamese forces, entering Saigon on 30
April 1975.

Saigon
was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after it was captured by Communist
forces.1978 invasion of Cambodia by Vietnamese forces1979 invasion of Vietnam by China